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"UNITED STATES PATENT OFrIcnO WILLIAM BILLINGHURST, OF ROCHESTER, NEWYORK.

membro-REEL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 24,987. dated August 9,1859.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM BILLING-- BURST,of the city of Rochester, in the county ot' Monroe and State. of NewYork, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements inFishing-Reels, of which the following is a full and accuratedescription, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawings, makingpart oi' this speciiication, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, same letters referring to like parts in all the gures of saiddrawings.

Figure l is a plan of my improved reel as attached to a section of lshpole and 'half iilled with line. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is asection, and Figs. 4 and 5 are details, showing the construction ofseveral parts.

The nature of this invention consists in so constructing the reel thatwhen the line is wound up it shall form arin g instead of a cylinder,thus providing efliciently for its drying without the necessity ofunwinding the line and spreading it out, while at the same time theweight and cost of the reel are very much reduced.

The construction of my improved reel is as follows: From the plate A,(shown in detail in Fig. 4,) by means of which it is attached to the rodor pole in the usual manner, projects the stud or pin l?. Upon this studthe disk D rotates by its central bearing, as seen in Fig. 3, andcarries on its periphery the divided rings It R R. These rings beingdivided, as shown in the drawings, and arranged as seen in Figs. l, 2,and 3, form the skeleton of a tubular ring, in the inside of which theline is very easily coiled, being admitted during the rotation of theskeleton ring thriugh the openings left by dividing the rings The handleH serves to rotate the disk D, and with it, of course, the tubular ring.

Partly to guide and brace the tubular ring during its revolutions, butchiefly to guide the line in its winding and unwinding and prevent theescape of any loose coil if such should exist, the opening formed bydividing the rings is filled in all but a small portion of its extent bymeans of the ring c b c. (Shown separately in Fig. 5.) This ring is heldin place and kept from rotating by means ot' the braces c and j', whichare attached to the plate A, as seen iu Fig. 4, the points of the bracespassing into the holes or loops t b c in the ring, Fig. 5. One of thesebraces is forked, and has attached a loop or guide, through which theline passes. This loop is seen in Figs. l and 2, and moredistinctly inFig. 4. 'This loop may, ofcourse, be of any size and placed in anyposition; but by placing it a little to one side of the line ofattachment to the rod, as seen in Fig. l, the line is led from the rodto the coil in the direction of a tangent, so that there is very littlestrain caused by tension on the line, which is also laid on more evenlyand pleasantly than it would be if it I passed onto the reel in a radialdirection.

The mode of action ot' this reel is obvious from the foregoingdescription, and the advantages are numerous and important.

Aside from the great reduction in weight and cost over a reelconstructed in the ordinary manner, the general form is much lnoreconvenient for carriage in the pocket, as the whole'thing, line and all,forms a flat disk of no very great dimensions and which lies snug andclose to the person; but the great advantage consists in the completeexposure of the line, whereby it is enabled to dry rapidly andthoroughly. In the common form, when theline on the reel becomes wet,which it is very certain to do, either from complete submersion or fromwinding wet portions of the line over it, itis impossible for thecentral portions ot' the line to dry, covered, as they are, by the outerlayers; but in my improved reel there is but a small portion of the linecovered, and the whole surface is fully exposed to the air. Hence the`whole line dries rapidly and thoroughly, andis thus prevented fromdecaying, as well as being made much more pleasant.

Another important feature consists in the rapidity with which the linecan be wound, thus enabling us to dispense with complicated andexpensive gearing for that purpose. In the common form of rcel, withoutgearing, each turn of the handle does not at first take up more thanthree-quarters of an inch of line. In a reel of the same size as thatshown in the drawings heretoanneXed-the iirst turn of the handle takesup more than seven inches R With the other parts of the reel, the Wholeof line, or nearly ten times the amount taken being arranged in themanner and for the pur- 4up by one turn of the common reel-handle. posesubstantially as set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim therein as new, anddesire to secure by Witnesses: Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the skeleton ring R R WM. BILLNGHURST.

J oHN RHIN, T. K. ABBOTT.

